Key findings: With Australia now well into the third year of this pandemic, there is clear evidence on the growing harms from alcohol. The report found:
- High levels of stress and anxiety, as well as boredom and isolation, have been identified as key drivers of risky alcohol use during the pandemic
- Studies have also found childcare pressures and employment instability were drivers of increased alcohol use
- Increases in alcohol-related deaths and soaring demand for support services
(D.I Comment: The Alcohol Industry were very quick to cash in on self-medicating pursuits activities during the Pandemic. State governments did not help the vulnerable either. If fact, most unleashed even greater accessibility to alcohol, in some instances classing it as an ‘essential service’. The short term gratuitous ‘win’ for the (in these vulnerabilities) addiction for profit industry have a price. Not only the health and well-being of the vulnerable citizens, but the escalating costs of immediate and future care for both acute and chronic alcohol use. It’s time the industry was accountable for the burden of disease it – as in these pandemic circumstances – aggressively worsened.)